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Irina Palm
Strand Releasing
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MPAA RATING: R for strong sexual content, nudity and language
Starring
Marianne Faithfull,
Miki Manojlovic,
Kevin Bishop,
Siobhan Hewlett,
Dorka Gryllus,
and
Jenny Agutter
Middle-aged Maggie must find a way to get enough money for her grandson’s lifesaving medical treatment. With all financial resources exhausted, Maggie tries her best to lift the dwindling hopes of her only son Tom and his wife Sarah. When a “Hostess Wanted” sign catches her eye, Maggie naively stumbles into a city sex club. The true job description is quite a surprise for the respectable, middle-class widow, even if she isn’t a prude. But unskilled Maggie accepts this as her fastest way to urgently needed cash and her very last option, having already sold her own home to pay for little Olly’s hospital bills.
Shy Maggie has a rough start at “Sexy World,” more than just a train ride from her conservative suburb. Wisecracking colleague Luisa shows her the ropes and the two women strike a touching friendship. Tough guy owner Miki, a real ladies’ man, reveals a soft spot for dutiful Maggie, and transforms her into the much-in-demand and lucrative “Irina Palm.” Maggie courageously proves to herself that she’s not so old and useless after all. (Strand Releasing)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
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| WRITTEN BY: |
Sam Garbarski
Philippe Blasband
Martin Herron
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| DIRECTED BY: |
Sam Garbarski
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| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: August 12, 2008
Theatrical: March 21, 2008
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| RUNNING TIME: |
103 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
Belgium | Luxembourg | UK | Germany | France |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
88
TV Guide
Ken Fox
Faithfull is marvelous: Once notorious for her own escapades, this great-great-niece of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch is no shrinking violet, but she's perfect as a plump, frumpy widow with a huge heart and a hidden talent no one would ever suspect.
75
Chicago Tribune
Sid Smith
It turns out a success, tempering its farfetched scenario with enough restraint and believability to pass for a modest parable of modern manners.
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Ruthe Stein
Sam Garbarski's use of slow-motion shots is pretentious, and he paces the film too slowly. But he captures the seedy side of London, giving you a feel for Soho during the day when sunshine exposes a cheap gaudiness.
75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Bill White
Garbarski recovers from the melodrama with a final image that is so sweet, so simple and so understated that one is tempted to say it is perfect.
70
The Hollywood Reporter
Ray Bennett
Marianne Faithfull is unforgettable as a middle-class, middle-aged frump …in Sam Garbarski's crowd-pleasing comedy-drama Irina Palm.
70
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
Genially preposterous and pleasantly diverting, it balances calculation against humanity and generally comes out on top.
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
Hoary, rather than whore-y, Irina Palm is shameless only in its mawkish sincerity.
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
Hoary, rather than whore-y, Irina Palm is shameless only in its mawkish sincerity.
60
Empire
Kat Brown
There's a heartwarming quality that softens the hardcore setting but this does lack an assured, er, hand.
60
The New York Times
A.O. Scott
Irina Palm is, for the most part, a phony trifle, but at its heart, somehow, is a real and fascinating person.
50
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
The demand for her services is so great that she suffers from "penis elbow," but her popularity also brings self-esteem and a possible boyfriend in her boss (Miki Manojlovic) in this lethargically directed comedy.
50
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
The dopey premise only takes to a gross extreme the "Full Monty" formula that the Brits have been milking for more than a decade.
50
Boston Globe
Janice Page
Doesn't deliver on a lot of fronts. But then again it gives us full-on Faithfull, who manages to bare herself completely without ever actually getting undressed.
50
New York Daily News
Joe Neumaier
Plays like a throwback to gritty-but-softhearted English dramas of the 1980s like "Mona Lisa" and "Sammy and Rosie Get Laid."
50
Portland Oregonian
Marc Mohan
Mixed messages are the order of the day in the conflicted British drama Irina Palm. At first blush, it seems like another entry in the saucy-but-safe Brit genre, a la "Calendar Girls," "Saving Grace" or "The Full Monty," but it turns out to be both more ambitious and less successful than those diversions.
50
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
It is, however, a baby boomer's treat to see Faithfull, romancer of Mick Jagger back in the day and a pop siren in her own right, show her qualities as an actor. One is hopeful she'll find her way to other, better projects.
40
Variety
Leslie Felperin
Astonishingly, pic reaped hearty guffaws at Berlinale press show, suggesting this might play best in Europe, but Anglophone auds are more likely to give Palm the thumbs down.
30
Village Voice
Jim Ridley
Nobody can reduce tawdry material to doddering quaintness like the British, but this staggeringly inane joint effort of U.K., Belgian, French, German, and Luxembourgian film financing represents a true coalition of the witless.
 The average user rating for this movie is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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